At-risk youths at boys' ranch routinely work at nearby homes

Two runaway juveniles suspected in deaths of couple near Lampe

Feb. 4, 2013

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Ken Ortman, founder of the Lives Under Construction Ranch, near Lampe, said Sunday that at-risk young men from the ranch routinely work under supervision at homes near the ranch, often doing yardwork for the elderly, but he would not say if any had worked at the home where an elderly couple was killed last week.

“We have worked on numerous streets and roads all over this community doing volunteer work,” Ortman said. In addition, some residents pay the young men, ages 7 to 21, to mow lawns and rake leaves.

Paul Brian Brooks, 70, and his wife, Margaret Susan Brooks, 69, were found dead just before 6 p.m. Thursday in a home where they were living — 1722 Trace Hollow Road, off of Table Rock Lake, 75 miles south of Springfield. They would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in July.

Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said Friday there was evidence of foul play and he called the deaths homicides. He did not say how the Brookses were killed, other than stating they were not shot. Autopsy results are pending.

Two juvenile runaways from the Lives Under Construction Ranch, ages 15 and 16, were arrested at the scene after a neighbor reported suspicious activity to the Sheriff’s Department. The neighbor held the runaways at gunpoint for 14 minutes while waiting for police to arrive.

Rader called the neighbor a “hero” but did not name him. The neighbor across the street, Rick Balsley, saw the juveniles removing items from either the Brookses’ residence or the vacant residence next door, or both, and called the owner of the vacant home while it was happening. Balsley declined to talk to a reporter from the News-Leader on Friday.

The boys’ ranch is approximately three miles from the victims’ residence. The Brookses, from Michigan, typically stayed in the home from around Thanksgiving to April or May. Their son and daughter-in-law, who own the home, live in Nixa.

Ortman would not say when the young men ran away from the facility, but he did say ranch employees immediately called authorities to report they were gone. Rader has said that one of juveniles had run away once before this year.

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Ortman would not say if the ranch accepts juveniles who have been accused of violent crimes, including homicide or attempted homicide. He was asked if the grounds or any of the individual residences are secured.

“It is not a locked facility,” he said. He said staff members live on the ranch and it would be up to them to make decisions on security.

Ortman said the ranch is working on a press release that will be made available in the “near future.”

While the website states that the boys and young men come from a 200-mile radius, prior News-Leader stories include interviews with youths from Milwaukee and the suburbs of Chicago, for example.

Those news stories, as well as the ranch’s literature, include glowing testimonials from parents and residents who laud the ranch for its “tough love” success in turning around young lives.

Ortman and his wife, Sheila, founded the ranch in 1982. Prior to that, they operated a dairy farm in South Dakota, where they were involved in a prison ministry and later in foster care.

Jobs skill training includes animal husbandry, carpentry, welding and working on cars. According to the ranch’s most recent tax return, the ranch has 41 vehicles with a total value of $58,342.

The drive to the ranch has a series of small signs posted along the road. On entering, the final two signs state: “The first boy you see … May be president to be!”

On leaving, the final sign says: “Remember us as you pray.”

The Ortmans are former youth counselors in the Mennonite church.

The program is based on Christian principles. According to the website, there are daily Bible studies, mealtime devotions and praise, personal study of the word of God and attendance at various local Sunday school and worship services.

One of the more controversial aspects of the program is that the young men are taken off whatever mental-health medications they might on, according to a 2005 story in the News-Leader. The story mentions medications for depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The story states the boys are weaned from the drugs with permission from parents and family doctors.

Ken Ortman is quoted as saying, “If it was indicated, we’d put them back on the medication, but in 23 years, that hasn’t been needed.”

On Sunday, after an initial phone interview, Ortman could not be reached for comment on whether the ranch still weans at-risk youth off their medications or, if it does, whether the ranch has a trained medical person on staff.

In a spring 2011 ranch newsletter, the story of a 15-year-old resident is recounted. The teenager had threatened to “hurt or kill his dad.” The newsletter states:

“(The teenager) arrived at the ranch with a belligerent, demanding attitude, and on several behavior modification medications. We immediately discontinued the drugs/medications so we could deal with his real behavior issues.”